Smartwatches have made it easier to monitor key health and fitness indicators, from heart rates to blood oxygen levels.
PointFit, a biotech start-up incubated in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), is working on a new kind of wearable – an ultrathin membrane embedded with special sensors that promises to do even more.
Exercise enthusiasts at a high-end gym in Hong Kong have already been using PointFit’s patch to monitor lactic acid, also called lactate, that they produce during workouts to better understand their endurance levels.
Professional athletes are used to keeping tabs on lactate levels, which helps them improve their stamina. However, traditional lactate collection methods involving blood testing aren’t popular outside the professional sphere.
PointFit is hoping that its skin patch wearable, which can detect biochemicals in sweat rather than blood, can promote the benefits of lactate testing to a wider audience.
“We want to maximise convenience without using needles,” explains Kenny Oktavius, PointFit’s Co-Founder and CEO.
Mr Oktavius, a keen amateur athlete himself, is keen to tap into rising interest in endurance sports, such as marathon running and cycling, for PF-Sports, the start-up’s first consumer product.
It consists of a wristband to hold the skin patch, while data picked up from bioreceptors on the patch is transmitted wirelessly to a companion app.
There’s a large untapped global market for consumer-friendly lactate testing, Mr Oktavius says, but that’s only the start of his plans.
Around Q3 next year, PointFit’s R&D team will start testing a second sensor that can measure cortisol, a hormone that helps regulate stress, for well-being monitoring.
This can also help strengthen the start-up’s appeal among committed runners and cyclists, as gauging cortisol levels – also common in professional sports – can help optimise recovery times.
Over time, Mr Oktavius wants to expand PointFit into healthcare, with hospital-grade testing that can help highlight serious health problems.
This could be especially useful for remote consultations in emerging markets, where medical resources are stretched.
Mr Oktavius hopes to start commercial operations in the wellness market in 2026 and in healthcare, starting with telemedicine, in 2027.
For now, he is focused on building up momentum in the consumer fitness market to build market awareness of sweat-sensing while amassing enough revenue for pricey medical approvals in the future.
The start-up is looking to raise US$1.5 million, which can help PF-Sports gain traction over the next 12 to 18 months.
“The biggest challenge is market awareness,” Mr Oktavius says. “We need to educate people on how this can benefit them. Once they understand that, word of mouth can spread.”
Mr Oktavius is talking to other gyms in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore to broaden PointFit’s footprint.
As one of 10 winners from this year’s Start-up Express, run by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), he is working with the HKTDC to grow his business.
The entrepreneurship development program has helped PointFit gain global exposure through trade fairs and the upcoming CES 2025, while arranging meetings with potential partners in markets, such as Japan.
So far, tests for PF-Sports have been conducted in controlled indoor environments, which is why Mr Oktavius is starting his commercial push in gyms.
The next step is to test for different temperatures and altitudes to increase the value of PF-Sports to people exercising outdoors.
Once tests have been completed, Mr Oktavius can begin selling PF-Sports to professional athletes as well, starting with teams that represent Hong Kong.
Team Visma-Lease a Bike, formerly known as Jumbo Visma, the Dutch cycling team that came second in last year’s Tour de France, has also signed up for beta testing.
PointFit is not alone in recognising sweat’s potential as an alternative to blood testing for health and fitness indicators.
One key advantage for PointFit, Mr Oktavius says, is the blend of durability, breathability and flexibility of the patented nanomembrane the start-up uses to collect sweat. Mr Oktavius helped develop the material when he was studying chemical engineering at HKUST.
While PointFit licenses the core material from HKUST, the start-up has developed its novel method of building the sensor and electronic circuity on the nanomembrane to track health and fitness data.
Mr Oktavius is also open to including bioreceptors that have been developed by other organisations and research institutes on his patch, comparing PointFit’s system to an app store that can provide a faster route to market.
“It can be a long journey turning research into a consumer product,” Mr Oktavius says. “It’s hard for researchers to build this from scratch. Opening our platform can be a more viable option for them.”